The King’s Fall Raid has returned to Destiny 2, and with it comes the Touch of Malice exotic scout rifle, reborn for a new sandbox. Bungie somehow managed to make it relevant seven years after it was first introduced in a game so different from its source material. The big change is how you get it.
This guide will tell you how to get this coveted rifle, as well as how to use it and its exotic trait: Charged with Blight.
How to get a touch of malice in Destiny 2’s King’s Fall Raid
There is only one way to get Touch of Malice in Destiny 2– As a random drop from the Oryx chest after completing the final King’s Fall Raid encounter. You have three chances to get it per week, as long as you have three characters that can run the Raid.
Unfortunately, no way to increase drop chance, and no protection against bad luck. It all comes down to your RNG. Some players will get Touch of Malice on their first or second completion; some players will take dozens or more. With King’s Fall taking a little over an hour for most casual fireteams, that could mean hundreds of hours of Raiding or just a few before the Exotic drops.
Once you get your hands on it, you may find that it was worth the effort.
How Touch of Malice and Charged With Blight work
veterans of destination 1 you’ll be happy to hear that Touch of Malice works effectively just like the original version. You can fire normally 10 times, but when the weapon only has one bullet left in the magazine, it will start using your health and shields to fuel additional shots. You can kill yourself with self damage, but final round deals double damage as long as you don’t reload.
The real kicker is the new Exotic Trait: Charged with Blight. Each precision hit adds stacks of Blight. When you reach 10 stacks, you can hold Recharge to charge Touch of Malice with that energy. Firing once the weapon is loaded (your character will physically stop the spinning rings in the middle of the weapon) sends out a plague projectile.
Touch of malice in PvE
There are also two hidden benefits. Any enemy hit by the Blight projectile is poisoned and takes DOT damage for about 10 seconds. Enemies take 50% additional damage per about two and a half seconds after taking Blight damage. This can be added to the 100% increase for using the last bullet over and over, for a total of 150% damage in PvE.
Even better, the Blight debuff does not need to come from your Touch of Malice. Any player in your instance with the weapon equipped who hits an enemy with Blight triggers the debuff. Coordinating with his fireteam to stay healed and weaken enemies means he can sustain 150% damage indefinitely.
Touch of Malice also buffs the other pain weapons, Thorn and Osteo Striga, adding some extra damage on top of what’s already present. Sadly, neither of those weapons are primary DPS material, but it’s a nice touch.
touch of malice in pvp
All of these effects are reduced in PvP., where the main damage increase is only 30% instead of 100%. The Blight debuff adds only 15% instead of 50%, but Touch of Malice in fully throttled PvP takes a little over half a second to kill.
With all of those mechanics combined and under the right circumstances, Touch of Malice is a terror no matter where you use it. It won’t replace Gjallarhorn and five other well-developed rocket launchers for DPS, but it doesn’t have to. An exotic primary weapon like this doesn’t spawn often, so run King’s Fall as often as it takes to get your hands on one. look at our other Destiny 2 content while you’re here, including a comprehensive tour of both the Duality Y Grasp of Greed Dungeons and God Roll Guides for the storm chaser Y Eyasluna. Our guide center it has so much more.
